NFC Championship Game: Los Angeles Rams at New Orleans Saints

Monday Night Football: New Orleans Saints at Carolina Panthers

If you love Over/Under total betting, then you’re going to have a great chance to cash in on Monday Night Football when Cam Newton and the desperate Carolina Panthers host Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints in a Week 16 NFC South divisional showdown that will have postseason implications for both, the winner and loser of this intriguing pairing.

Now, let’s find out what’s going to go down in this Week 15-ending matchup.

Monday Night Football: New Orleans Saints at Carolina Panthers

Game Information

Weather Forecast

Clear: 7°C | 45°FHumidity: 65%Wind: 5 MPH NWStadium Type: Open Air

New Orleans Saints

New Orleans bounced back from their surprising Week 13 loss against Dallas to smack Tampa Bay around 28-14 this past weekend in a contest that finished well under the 54-point total. Drew Brees passed for 201 yards and one touchdown while adding a rushing score for good measure. New Orleans played under the total for the fourth straight game. The Saints outscored Tampa Bay 17-0 in the fourth quarter to get the win last weekend. New Orleans averages a stupendous 34.4 points per game to rank second in scoring while allowing 21.8 points per game defensively to rank a respectable 10th in points allowed.

• Under is 4-0 in Saints last 4 vs. NFC.• Under is 5-1 in Saints last 6 road games.• Under is 5-2 in Saints last 7 games following a straight up win.

Carolina Panthers

Carolina was sitting pretty at 6-2 at the midway mark of the season, but since then, the Panthers have fallen off in a big way by dropping five straight including their 26-20 loss to Cleveland this past weekend in a game that finished just under the 47.5-point total. Carolina played under the total for the second consecutive game and third time in their last four games overall. The Panthers average 24.9 points per game (11th) while allowing 25.5 points per contest defensively (24th).

Cam Newton passed for 265 yards but failed to throw a touchdown while tossing one interception. Running back Christian McCaffrey rushed for 63 yards and a pair of scores for the Panthers, but Carolina was shut out in the final quarter after entering the period up 20-17.

“It stinks,” McCaffrey said. “A lot of people are against us right now, but I’ll fight for every one of these guys. That’s exactly what I’m going to do and I know a lot of guys will do as well. We lost. We’ve lost a few in a row. It’s kind of us against the world right now.”

• Under is 4-1 in Panthers last 5 games following a straight up loss.• Over is 8-2-1 in Panthers last 11 home games vs. a team with a winning road record.• Over is 34-15-2 in Panthers last 51 vs. a team with a winning record.

Expert Pick and Prediction

Let me start by saying that New Orleans has won three straight and four of the last five meetings against Carolina including a 34-13 beatdown the last time they visited their NFC South division rivals. While both of these teams have a lot to play for as New Orleans looks to nail down the top overall seed in the NFC playoffs and Carolina still has an outside shot at the postseason, the fact of the matter is that the Panthers have been too wildly inconsistent for me – or any NFL bettor – to trust – at this late stage of the regular season.

With that said, I like New Orleans to win a fairly high-scoring affair that is kind of reminiscent to their last win in Carolina. The Over is 5-0 in Carolina’s last 5 home games and 4-0 in New Orleans’ last 4 Monday Night Football contests. With the Over going 7-1 in the last 8 meetings between these two, I like the Over once again in this one.